Hunters will finally be banned from bringing sick trophies of their kills back to Britain, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Ministers will this week announce a total ban on the import of the trophies from endangered species to stop what Boris Johnson has described as a ‘vile trade’.
The news comes as British trophy hunters are exposed by sickening images in which they grin while posing with recently slaughtered lions, elephants, giraffes, zebras and monkeys.
Since the Tories pledged to ban imports in 2019, more than 300 trophies of endangered animals killed on safaris have been shipped to the UK.
Graeme and Greig Blundell, a father and son from Kinross, Scotland, are pictured with a zebra
Critics have accused the Government of dragging its heels but a Whitehall source said last night: ‘This week, we will set out our next steps. They will be comprehensive, robust and effective and deliver the change promised to help protect thousands of species.’
Dame Judi Dench, a supporter of the Campaign To Ban Trophy Hunting, said: ‘Having built up expectations, the Government now need to see it through. It’s a policy that has tremendous support.’
To heap pressure on MPs, the campaign will send out a book shaming 75 British hunters, some of whom boast of killing hundreds of animals.
Their names – along with an album of grisly photographs – were found on the website for Umlilo Safaris, a South African firm that offers
